


my heart is chasing me down

by rinnegan



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M, Oblivious Uzumaki Naruto, Pining, Pining Uchiha Sasuke, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:00:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29463909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinnegan/pseuds/rinnegan
Summary: “I need you to date me.”Sasuke chokes on his coffee, coughing to get the beverage out of the wrong pipe where it's trying to kill him by making it impossible to breath.“Wh-What?” he asks as soon as he has enough dignity back and all of the tears are successfully blinked away.“Just pretend you like me! I can't go back to my parents and tell them I lied because no one on this earth wants to date Naruto Uzumaki for more than three days straight. That shame, Sasuke, I can't survive it.”ORFake dating the friend he is secretly in love with isn't the best idea Sasuke Uchiha has ever had.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 28
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> heeello!  
> starting another wip while i'm 18k words into a story isn't the best idea i have ever had but anyway! here we are, please enjoy this ride. ( ˘ ³˘)♥

It’s Friday afternoon. 

Sasuke sits in his favorite café called _Hebi_ with a black coffee in one hand and the book he is currently reading in the other hand like every friday afternoon after college, occupying a table in the back of the room, near the corner where it’s most likely to get as much quiet as possible in a room full of babbling, happy students that like tasty sandwiches and a good, steamy coffee with oat milk—or coconut milk, if that’s more to one's taste. 

It’s not often that he finds a book in the local bookstore that is so thrilling he almost forgets about his coffee but he really landed a lucky shot when he grabbed this book in the thrift section of the _The Last Bookstore_ —it’s about history in Spain between the years 1936 and 1939 and a lot of different people are talking about their perspective of the revolution that changed their lives for the better; even then, when their dreams ultimately died with the facism marching in despite their best efforts to keep them at bay, their ideals didn’t change. 

He always tended to history books even as a young kid—what should be there to learn from fantasy stories that reality couldn’t teach him already on a more practical matter? He then found himself highly interested in theories about alternative forms of governments—and liked those the most that didn’t require any government at all but rather based on the freedom of each and every human being. 

After turning the page of the book for the hundredth time in the last two hours, he absentmindedly takes another sip of his coffee, that has already turned cold by now, and grimaces due to the bitterness paired with the uncomfortable cold on his tongue. It just tastes awful. 

Luckily, he had his coffee nearly finished anyway, so it’s no big loss; but he is planning on staying a little while longer before he heads home, and he will need another cup for that. But not before he is through this chapter and maybe the next one—

someone is loudly taking the chair next to Sasuke as the thing is dragged over the wooden floor, creaking, almost screaming, and he is ready to yell at whoever has the audacity to disrupt him for whatever dumb reason they have in mind now—

“Hey, Sasuke,” says the boy, smiling lopsidedly, as he crashes down on the chair, and puts two cups of coffee on the table. One is creamy and with some sort of syrup on the top and the other one is pitchblack. “I’ve seen your cup is almost empty, so I bought you another one.”

Sasuke closes his book with a snap, his eyes narrowed. “What do you want, Naruto?” 

“Nothing, really,” Naruto responds, shoulders shrugging, a carefree smile on his lips and Sasuke has to force himself to look away from those white, sharp looking teeth and the pink tongue darting out between his lips—Sasuke knows his staring got more obvious over the last few months, it’s probably because that blond idiot started to work out more regularly and made it a habit of walking shirtless on every giving opportunity. “I just walked by and saw you through the windows, thought I’d say hi.” 

“Hello,” Sasuke responds, deadpanned, but grabs the coffee for free anyway. It feels calmingly warm in his hands. “Now you can go. Bye.” 

Naruto laughs. He doesn’t show the slightest inclination to stand up and leave Sasuke alone. It’s not like Sasuke is surprised, it’s always worth trying though.

“Don’t be such an asshole again,” Naruto says, words falling into his cup as he drinks from his coffee. There is some cream attached to Naruto’s upper lip because, _of course,_ that idiot can’t drink like a proper adult, needing all the fancy stuff to make this natural bitter beverage as sweet as possible. 

Sasuke can’t bring himself to tell Naruto that he looks like an idiot; the thing is, Naruto is always looking like an idiot, so what’s the point in telling him anyway? Also, the chances are too high that Naruto won’t use the handkerchief like every normal on the planet would but his tongue, innocently licking it away, and after last time, that’s nothing that Sasuke needs right now. Looking at it already makes his hands sweat. 

“How’s college going for ya? I’ve to write another two exams before I can relax and have my life back.” 

“It’s going fine,” Sasuke answers, storing away his book in his backpack while he has the chance to avoid a conversation with Naruto about why he reads a book about Spanish anarchists. “I’ve already finished everything.” 

“Lucky duck,” Naruto says. “Anyway, did you hear that Ino and Sai planned a party next saturday?”

“Of course I have, Naruto. There are flyers and posters all over the school.” 

“The _End Of The Fucking World Party_. It’s eye-catching, isn’t it? Sai designed everything.”

“Why is the world ending this time?” Sasuke asks, taking another sip from his coffee—only realizing now that Naruto got the order right; no milk, no sugar, no syrup, just blank, black coffee. He finally must have learned _something._

“Ino is getting twenty two this month and she thinks this means she’s getting old, her youth dying, blah blah.” 

“So _her_ world is ending,” Sasuke says, nodding.

“Well—yeah, and Sai might ask her to get married on the same day. Funny, isn’t it?” 

Sasuke’s eyes widen, and he is almost choking on his coffee but he manages to get everything down the right pipe in the end. “He wants to propose to her? On her birthday?”

“Amongst hundred of other people, yes.” Naruto laughs and it sounds like he isn’t sure if it’s the best idea Sai ever had—it probably isn’t. “But they have been together for more than five years now, so it’s probably not really shocking to hear, huh? And—uhm—it’s a secret, so you can’t tell Ino anything.”

“You weren’t supposed to talk about this,” Sasuke realizes. “Idiot.” 

Naruto’s cheeks turn the faintest shade of red. “Hey! It’s safe telling you, isn’t it, asshole? It’s not like you’ll go to Ino and tell her what I just said.” 

Sasuke puts his chin on his hands, a provocative grin on his face. “What makes you so sure I won’t?” 

For a moment or two it seems like Naruto’s blush intensifies as he looks into Sasuke’s eyes, restlessly darting between them as if he is searching for an answer and it somehow makes Sasuke’s hair stand on the back of his neck—

and then Naruto’s phone starts to ring and he looks away, clearing his throat. 

“One second,” he says before he takes the call. “I’ll be right back.”

“Do whatever you want,” Sasuke answers, shrugging his shoulder slightly and grabs his own phone to check his social media while Naruto is otherwise occupied. 

“Hey, mom. Yes, I’m fine. What about you and dad? Oh, yeah!” Naruto laughs, tipping with his fingers on the table and slightly shaking his cup while he speaks to his mother. “That’s true. Yeah, I’m coming home this weekend like we planned. Uhu, yes. Yepp. Wh-What? Yes, of course I still am! You wanna—meet them? This… weekend? Yes? Uh, well, of course I can bring them, too! No, it’s not a problem, don’t worry. It’s fine. Yeah. I’m looking forward to it, too. I love you, mom. Bye!” 

Naruto takes a big gulp of his coffee and then slams the empty cup on the table. 

Sasuke hasn’t scrolled through any of his twitter the whole time Naruto talked to his mother and regarding the way Naruto’s voice pitched here and there, he thinks something made him nervous. He also tried to find out who Naruto meant when he said he would bring someone home to his parents—Naruto’s facebook profile still says he is single. 

“Anyway, are you planning to go to the party?” Naruto asks, a little too casually to sound convincing. 

“No.” 

“Why not?”

“Why should I?” Sasuke responds with another question.

“Because it’s fun! And I’m there!”

“Just another reason not to come, then.” 

“Asshole!” Naruto sticks his tongue out, and Sasuke’s eyes may or may not try to immediately dart down and betray him. “There’s also alcohol for free. Sai is obviously very generous next saturday.” 

Sasuke shrugs, leaning back while crossing his legs under the table. “I might think about it.” 

“Great,” Naruto says and clears his throat again. When Sasuke looks up, Naruto’s face seems unnaturally pale. “I need help.”

“Then get you some.” 

“I think I need you to help me,” Naruto specifies, trying not to meet his eyes. 

“And why should I help you? Ask your friends.”

“You’re my friend! And you don’t even know what I want to ask!” 

“I don't plan to change that.” 

It might be true that Naruto started to call Sasuke his friend a few months ago and Sasuke doesn't despise Naruto entirely either most of the time, maybe he thinks of him sometimes as a friend, too, but—

“Sasuke,” Naruto says, quietly, and it somehow turns Sasuke's blood into boiling water. Naruto reaches out over the table to Sasuke's hand, resting next to his phone. He lays his hand on top of Sasuke's. 

Sasuke takes his hand back like he had just burned himself and if Naruto notices that strange reaction, he doesn't say anything. His own hand lies for another few seconds on the table before it wanders back into his lap like nothing happened. Stupid, touchy idiot that he is. 

“I need your help because I can't ask my other friends and it's really urgent.”

Sasuke sighs in a frustrated manner and takes his coffee into his hands to occupy himself with something other than the missing warmth of Naruto's fingers. “What is it? Spit it out, usuratonkachi. ” 

“I—well, how do I start this? It's actually a little embarrassing,” he admits and scratches the back of his head; something he always does when he is nervous and doesn't know where to put his energy. “My parents started to get interested in… well, my love life, I think? Uh—asking me about dates and stuff, about possible girl- or boyfriends, and I always disappointed them until… a few months ago where I told them I finally found someone I fell in love with. I said we went on a few dates and—yeah, but as you can see there's no one…”

“You're lying to your parents about your relationship status?” 

Sasuke drinks from the coffee, his heart beating in his chest a little faster than usual.

“Well, yeah—and no! That's why I need you. My mom actually asked me to bring my significant other with me this weekend and, like you probably heard, I said yes. They are starting to think something is suspicious—”

“And they are absolutely right about it.”

Naruto huffs, wildly gesturing with his hands. 

“That's _not_ the point here, Sasuke. What I'm trying to say is: I need you to date me.”

Sasuke chokes on his coffee, coughing to get the beverage out of the wrong pipe where it's trying to kill him by making it impossible to breath. 

“Wh-What?” he asks as soon as he has enough dignity back and all of the tears are successfully blinked away. 

“Just _pretend_ you like me! I can't go back to them and tell them I lied because no one on this earth wants to date Naruto Uzumaki for more than three days straight. That shame, Sasuke, I can't survive it.”

Sasuke's heartbeat is loud and clear in his eyes as he stands up and takes all of his stuff to finally leave this shithole—what does Naruto think he is suggesting? It's like Sasuke doesn't got anything better to do then meet Naruto's parents and play that—that—

“No,” he says and sounds as convincing as possible while his heart seems to think this might be not the worst idea Naruto ever brought up between them. “That's your problem, not mine.”

The next moment, Naruto is on his feet, one of his large hands on Sasuke's shoulder while the other catches his wrist. 

“Please, we don't have to do much if that's making you uncomfortable. All I need is a kiss or two while my parents are watching.”

“I said no, Naruto,” Sasuke murmurs but his response doesn't sound honest to his own ears and why is he already looking at Naruto's stupid lips again—and why did this idiot get that dumb vertical labret piercing in the first place? Black jewelry suits him too damn well, goodness. 

And now Naruto is _pouting_. 

He feels his heart skip a beat and his last defense melts away. 

“Please, Sasuke,” Naruto says quietly and leans forward into Sasuke's personal space, invading it, just like he always does—first the personal space, then his thoughts and then his heart. “You do remember the time where it rained so much and I had to drive you home because you couldn't walk due to your broken leg and Itachi didn't made it in time—” 

“That's how we actually met, yes. Why are you talking about this?” 

“Because,” Naruto says and his eyes glow dangerously. “you were adamant about paying me back when I needed it. Now I need it. Pay me back.”

Sasuke pinches his nose, sighing. Maybe kissing Naruto once or twice isn't so bad and there's this possibility that his heart won't race anytime Naruto enters a room anymore as soon as he knows what a sloppy kisser Naruto is. 

“Fine,” he grits through his teeth, admitting to his defeat. “I'll help you.”

And that's when Naruto pulls him forward into a fierce hug, cheek pressed to cheek and a hand dangerously low on his coccygeal bone, rubbing there softly. 

“You're the best, Sasuke! I knew I could count on you, thank you very much!” 

Naruto feels so warm. 

“Get away. You're disgusting, usuratonkachi.”

And Naruto does take a step back, his hands leaving Sasuke's body and he laughs, silk and low. It starts a wave of goosebumps covering his body, still a little dizzy from Naruto's touch. 

“We'll share a bed when we're home, y'know? Now that we're boyfriends, I think you should get used to us touching each other.” 

Naruto's grin is big and bright and he wiggles his eyebrows—Sasuke wants to punch him. 

Instead, he feels his face start to burn slightly. 

“ _Fake_ boyfriends are what we are. And what do you mean, sharing a bed?” 

Naruto's grin turns into a lopsided smile and Sasuke doesn't know how to survive any of this now that he has sealed his fate by fake dating this loser who can't get a real date and leave him alone with his daydreams—

“Didn't I tell you? We'll be staying the whole weekend.”

“No,” Sasuke hisses. “You didn't mention anything like that to me.”

He doesn't add that he didn't ask either. It doesn't seem particularly fitting in this situation. 

“Well, now you know. Pack the things you need, I'll pick you up at 6 pm sharp. Until then, _babe_ ,” Naruto says, smiling with his teeth on full display and turns around, walking away. 

Sasuke’s mind is racing along his nervously beating heart, the sounds of it clearly vibrating in his own ears as watches Naruto go, turning around the corner and thereby slips out of his view. It takes him another moment or two before his face feels no longer on fire and he feels secure enough to grab his jacket and leave this goddamn café—not before paying for his and Naruto’s coffees though. 

On his way home it starts to drizzle and Sasuke starts to think the world wants to mock him that badly; he doesn’t need another painful reminder on how he met this moron a little over six months ago, he really doesn’t. This memory is still as crystal clear as the water drops falling down from heaven onto the ground. 

He sighs.

As he searches through his music to find something to walk home with, a Facebook notification starts to pop up—

_Naruto Uzumaki wants to…_

No.

_No._

No way in hell is he going to accept that relationship status request from Naruto—it might be true that no one really uses this website anymore but his family still does; not only his parents and his brother but also different cousins, aunts and uncles who would be more than curious to ask questions about Sasuke’s seemingly new boyfriend. 

Thinking about Naruto—thinking about being in a relationship with him _for real,_ not just to whatever dumb reason Sasuke agreed to, sends waves of shivers over his body; rather unpleasant ones that make his heart skip a beat. 

Thinking about Itachi, interrogating him about the possible change of his Facebook status makes it all a lot worse. Much worse. He might have agreed to help him but this doesn’t mean he has to lie to his own family or even tell them the truth behind all of this, taking all the shame Naruto is trying to run away from. No.

Sasuke shakes his head, declining Naruto’s request for good, and throws his phone at the other side of the couch. It leaves Naruto’s status simply being changed to _in a relationship_ instead of _Single_. 

It looks… strange. Sasuke can’t exactly tell what it makes him feel but there is _something_ and he is not sure he likes that, at all. Why does he care if Naruto’s in a relationship or not? It shouldn’t matter to him.

It shouldn’t.

(It… might matter though. A little.)

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my loves, please enjoy this chapter <3

Naruto is late. Unsurprisingly so. 

It is totally not like Sasuke would have thought it in any way likely to find Naruto knocking at his door at 6 pm _sharp_ like he assured him he would do only a few hours ago. Actually, it would have been more astounding if he wound up on time and not let Sasuke wait. Naruto had been living on his own terms of time since Sasuke had met him near the bookshop he usually occupied and for whatever coincidence or sicked fate Naruto had picked him up. He had been late to a friend’s birthday party that day—Gaara’s, if he remembered correctly.

The redhead that obviously is head over heels into Naruto, always caring and nice, and Naruto is either as ignorant as hell or simply doesn’t care. He should have asked Gaara to help him, Sasuke’s sure he would have happily agreed to this shitshow. Which makes him actually wonder why Naruto asked him out of all people he knows—had it been simply out of convenience because Sasuke was sitting next to him when his mother had called? Probably. 

This doesn’t change the fact that he _is_ going to meet his friend’s (the one he pretends to be in a relationship with, for fuck’s sake) parents, and if there is something he learned growing up in the Uchiha family it surely is to make a good impression with strangers; even more so if said strangers are going to believe Sasuke is their son’s new boyfriend—fake or not, he has a reputation to maintain.

It would be so much easier, though, if he knew anything about Naruto’s parents besides the fact that they were, well, his mother and father. That is one of the reasons why Sasuke dug up half of his entire wardrobe for the past hour—should he wear something a little more formal like a shirt? He thinks he is sure that a whole suit is too much for meeting his parents for the first time; even if they end up a little stricter than Naruto is, there is no way they are going to be so serious and plain. 

When he thinks about Naruto—the always smiling, too trusting, naive, captivating moron that he is—is there any real possibility his parents are his total opposites?

He tries to picture Naruto’s mother, then his father—and stops. 

Whatever he does, it’s hilarious. There is no reason to invest himself in this drama anymore than what is necessary for it to make it believable. Also, Naruto would probably laugh at him if he wore something to impress his parents. This guy wears his hoodies for weeks straight even though they are way too many stains on it—spilled ramen, or at least that is what Naruto told him the one time he actually asked. 

Sasuke decides to wear a black, oversized pullover that reads in crimson red letters _May the bridges I burn light the way,_ a dark jeans—the one without holes, of course—and his plateau Doc Martens, just as black as everything else. 

Somehow a shirt finds its way into his bag nonetheless. For the possibility they are going to a restaurant or something. Who the hell knows. Better safe than sorry, right? He is not going to embarrass himself in front of Naruto.

Or maybe all of this had been a dumb prank after all, and that’s the reason why Naruto isn’t showing the fuck up. He is probably already at his parent’s house, and has long forgotten about what he had said to Sasuke—

his phone vibrates. 

**Dumbass, 7:04 pm**

_here :-)_

Moron. 

The moment he leaves his apartment—not without a last glance in the mirror to check his appearance—and sees Naruto, leaning against his disturbingly bright orange colored car, smiling just as disturbingly bright, his heart stutters for whatever reason. 

Naruto looks… well, he wears baggy ripped jeans that nearly reach his ankles and an oversized white hoodie with two orange stripes on each side of the sleeves. His chucks are just as white and surprisingly clean, with orange socks peeking out. 

Walking further towards him, it even seems Naruto did something with his hair to tame the usual mess on his head. It kind of looks like an actual hairstyle this time. It suits him. Of course he is not going to tell him that. 

“You’re late,” is what Sasuke tells him instead. 

Naruto rubs the back of his neck, a lopsided smile on his lips. “I know. Kiba needed me to help him with his dogs since his mom is in the hospital, y’know, and I’m really sorry. I would have sent a message if I didn’t lose track of time.”

“Uhu, whatever,” Sasuke says distractedly as he notices that Naruto wears orange eyeshadow matching his outfit and—and is this eyeliner, too? Naruto may be the biggest loser he has ever met but he also got very beautiful blue eyes surrounded by dark, long lashes. Sometimes the shade of color seems to change from a very clear summer sky to the deepest ocean blue Sasuke can probably imagine, and this eyeshadow just… really emphases that. He should wear it more often. 

“Do you like it?”

Sasuke tenses, realizing the way he stared at Naruto’s face for the past few seconds.

“What?”

“Do you like my makeup? Or—do you think it’s too much? Do I look like a clown? I knew it! Ino said—”

Sasuke shrugs. “You’re always looking like a clown to me.” 

“Hey!” Naruto shouts, puffed out cheeks and an accusing finger pointed at Sasuke, almost touching his chest. “Don’t be mean!”

“I’m being honest,” Sasuke answers, eyes still fixated on the orange surrounding blue orbits. “It’s… fine. I guess.” 

“Coming from you, I think this counts as a compliment, right?” Naruto grins, pushing away from his car a little but only enough to turn around and expectantly open the car door. “I think we should start driving.”

“Whatever,” Sasuke says, and rolls his eyes at—whatever this is. “Moron.”

Naruto laughs and doesn’t move an inch from where he stands until Sasuke gets into the car, the seatbelt clicking into its rightful place, and the car door is thrown closed. He even snatches the bag from Sasuke’s hands and stows it somewhere in the trunk.

The car is unusually tidy, at least for Naruto’s standards—he once visited his apartment because Naruto urged him to come since he accidentally brought too much miso soup for one guy to eat alone, so he knows—, and it smells distinctly like vanilla in here. He bets it typically doesn’t smell like anything positive in here, at all.

When Naruto sits in the driver seat, Sasuke, while looking out of his window, asks: “Do you always treat your partner like they can’t do anything alone? Like, opening a car door by themselves?”

“No,” Naruto says abruptly and laughs but it sounds a little shallow to Sasuke; like nervousness is mixing into the lightness of his voice. “That’s—uh—totally not it. And nothing I wanted to intend, like, at all. I just wanted to—we have to practice this a little before meeting my parents, right? It has to seem natural and—stuff.”

Sasuke almost laughs. Almost. 

“I earnestly hope neither you or you parents believe behaving like that around your boyfriend is anything near natural. We’re not living in the eighteenth century anymore, Naruto.”

“Hinata always enjoyed it,” Naruto counters with lingering defensiveness, shoulders shrugging.

“Yeah, well—I’m not Hinata.” 

He doesn’t know much about Hinata Hyūga, and he honestly doesn’t care much about her. All he needs to know is that she is pretty, dark-haired, Naruto’s ex-girlfriend and seems to suffer from social anxiety.

“I—yes, I know that. I was half joking anyway. That’s why I think it’s better if we get used to each other, right?” 

Sasuke sighs, pinching his nose. “Perhaps.” 

Naruto starts driving after that, and soon they leave Sasuke’s street behind and drive onto the highway. 

“So… Do you have any rules? Any no-go’s I have to keep in mind?”

“No pet names,” Sasuke immediately answers, uncomfortably reminded of the way Naruto made him feel the last time they met in the café and he called him— 

Naruto chuckles, it is soft and warm, and Sasuke feels his stomach turn to the inconsistent way Naruto is driving.

“No unnecessary touches or kisses while we’re visiting your home.”

“Noted. Anything else?” 

“I’ll keep you updated soon enough,” Sasuke responds and turns his face to look at Naruto. “What about you?” 

It’s silent for a moment or two, Naruto is obviously thinking about something. In the end, he just shakes his head.

“I don’t know. You can call me _honey_ or _baby_ if you want to, I don’t mind.”

“I'm sure I won’t.”

Naruto laughs again. “Okay,” he says and Sasuke is almost sure he hears a quiet _Too bad_ —but he has to have imagined that. Right? 

“Tell me about your parents,” he demands instead of thinking about whatever Naruto might have said or not. He will need more information about literally anything that includes the next three days, and he is not entirely sure an one hour drive to the next city will be sufficient for this trip to end in anything other than a disaster. 

“My mother’s name is Kushina and my dad is called Minato. What can I tell you? Uhh, right—they met when they were 14 because my mother moved back to her home city after living abroad in France. My grandmother was a great painter that sold a lot of paintings in Paris and—and first, mom should have followed in her footsteps as the blessed child that could draw your perfect portrait when she was seven years old but she always thought of painting as a hobby, not a way of making money. That’s why she left Paris eventually to come back here, where her father lived and—”

“I don’t need the whole life story of your entire family, Naruto,” Sasuke interrupts him due to the lack of time, not curiosity. “Just give me some basic info.”

“Uh—yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’m rambling again, sorry,” he says and then there’s a mischievous grin on his face for the split of a second. “Mom will probably tell you everything herself, so don’t worry.”

“Great,” Sasuke answers, voice thick with sarcasm and lies. 

Naruto laughs at that, and proceeds unperturbed. “They have been together for more than twenty three years now. isn’t it crazy? Mom didn’t like dad at first because she thought he was just like the other bullies that always commented on her red hair—”

“Your mother has red hair?” 

“Yeah, a lot of people on my mother’s side have them. I, unfortunately, not. I guess my father’s genes were more…dominant. That’s how it’s said, right?”

Of course this revelation leads to the imagination of a red haired Naruto Uzumaki and—well, it wouldn’t be the worst hair color to highlight the blue eyes that don’t look so bad even with blonde hair. With red hair he would probably describe them more as ocean blue, whereas now he would say they were tainted in the color of the sky and—

“Sasuke?”

He snaps back to reality, the image of shiny red hair slips back to wherever it came from—for now.

“For you to have red hair, your father’s DNA would need to supply another recessive gene that instructs your cells to build the right type of melanin for you to end up with the same hair color as your mother.” 

This, however, leaves smirking as Naruto casts a glance at Sasuke—who just now realizes that he might have said a little too much. Or unceremoniously got caught daydreaming about things he shouldn’t care about. Damn the physical attraction he feels for that idiot.

“Allrighty, asshole. What else is there to say? Uhm, let me think a second—ah, right! Mom’s very nice and sweet but she has a temper behind that lovely façade of hers, so don’t make her angry at all costs! Or you will be sorry. I promise. It’s Naruto-proofed. She once grounded me for a whole week because I forgot to buy her a present for Mother’s Day.”

“My father would have disinherited me if I forgot things like that,” Sasuke shares before he has the chance to really think about it. But then he reminds himself that he has to spend the next twenty seven hours with Naruto and telling a little bit about himself won’t be the worst that will probably happen. 

“What’s your father’s name?” Naruto asks and genuinely sounds interested in getting an answer. 

“Fugaku,” Sasuke replies, and then adds: “And my mother’s name is Mikoto.”

He doesn’t need to tell Naruto about his silly brother. They have already met at this point. 

“Ah, Mikoto means something like princess, right?” 

“Or life. That’s what my grandmother had in mind when mother was born.” 

“Right. I bet she looks as elegant as her name sounds,” Naruto says and turns around another corner into what seems to be the beginning of the next city. Sasuke sighs quietly when the city sign doesn’t yet read _Uzushiogakure._ “What do your parents do for a living?”

“My father is the head of an IT company,” he answers truthfully. “And my mother works as a psychologist. It’s probably the only other career my father thinks is worthy enough for me than working in his own company.” 

“But that’s not the only reason you study Psychology, right?” Naruto asks and Sasuke has to suppress the urge to punch him for the honest concern in his voice. They barely count as friends and—well, and now, Sasuke sits in a car with Naruto, on the way to his parents pretending to be his new boyfriend. Damn it. 

“No, of course not,” Sasuke sighs and bites his lip, looking out of his window again. Stupid Naruto. “Fortunately, I found the books my mother read quite interesting when growing up. Anyway, what about your parents?”

“Glad that you’re asking! Mom is a nurse but still paints as her hobby and even manages to sell some of her paintings, and my dad teaches Ethics and Mathematics. I may have gotten his blonde hair but not his sense for numbers and how to operate with them. In elementary school some of my teachers even guessed I got dis—dysl—”

“Dyslexia,” Sasuke finishes with rolling eyes. “You’re sure you're the child of your mother and father? Sounds like you’re adopted.”

“Shut up, asshole!” Naruto says but doesn’t sound offended at the slightest. Their bickering is almost comforting. “What’s your favorite color?” 

Sasuke turns his head. “And now we’re back in elementary school or what?” 

“Just answer the damn question, jerk! I think I should know the favorite color of my boyfriend, don’t you think?” 

“ _Fake_ boyfriend,” Sasuke insists but answers anyway. “Black, I guess. Red is also not bad to look at.” 

“Mere formalities,” Naruto chuckles. “Guess what’s mine!”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s obvious.”

“It’s not!”

“It is,” Sasuke still persists.

“Not!”

“Purple,” Sasuke answers sarcastically, a vein threateningly pulsing on his forehead. 

“Wrong!” Naruto shouts nonetheless, smiling. “It’s orange. I knew you couldn’t have guessed.” 

This time, they pass a sign that clearly reads _Uzushiogakure_ and Sasuke’s stomach turns instantly. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy that gets nervous if he has to meet new people—or worse, parents of the person he pretends to be in love with—but he really doesn’t like to be on display all the time. Meeting new people usually means a lot of talking about himself and he doesn’t like that. 

Which reminds him of… 

“Did you tell your parents anything about…” he thinks of saying _us,_ like in a real couple kind of way, but the word doesn’t roll from his tongue; it would sound too real and that is not what this shitshow is about. “...me?”

Naruto rubs his neck with one hand and laughs, clearly nervous and maybe even a little uncomfortable in his skin. Good. Sasuke doesn’t want to be the only one suffering about this.

“Lots, actually. They know your name is Sasuke, you’re majoring in Psychology, we met because you broke your leg, and I just couldn’t let the cutie walk in the pouring rain that would have ruined his pretty hair. So I stopped with my car and asked if I could help, I brought you home safely—and then we went on a few dates afterwards because you couldn’t get enough of me. We’re now happily together for around six months.”

Sasuke bites his cheek and looks at Naruto, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. 

It takes a few seconds before Naruto realizes he is being watched and that Sasuke has no intention to say anything back. 

“What?” Naruto says, chuckling, and there may be the faintest hint of red on his cheeks. “A little bit of truth in every lie, right?”

“Something else I should know of?” 

And with that Naruto’s face blushes intensively—he tries to look stubbornly on the street though. Like he is supposed to do while driving, anyway. 

“Yeah—uhm, I might have told them you kissed me after I had driven you home, and that was what got things going in the first place. So that’s basically our first kiss, I guess.”

“You did what?” 

He would never kiss Naruto first, never—

“We can tell them you were a little drunk, if that’s any better—but—uhm, yeah, I know it wasn’t the best idea but they surprised me.”

“Or we tell them you were plastered when you told them because I absolutely wouldn’t behave like that.”

“Like what? Like a normal human being without a stick deep buried in their ass?” 

“Shut the fuck up,” Sasuke grits through his teeth.

Naruto laughs at that, but then clears his throat. “We’re almost there by the way—I’ll better tell you a little bit about me before we arrive. If mom recognizes we are lying, she’s gonna kill us.” 

“That seems more like a you-problem,” Sasuke points out and rolls his eyes; he doesn’t really care if their acting is convincing enough or not. It is Naruto who has to live with the shame if they fail to pretend to be a couple—Sasuke himself never has to see Naruto’s parents ever again if everything doesn’t work out. And still, he has agreed to be Naruto’s boyfriend for this weekend and an Uchiha always gives his best, no matter what.

“Asshole—”

“Get it over with, Naruto. We don’t have endless time for your childish demeanor.”

Sasuke watches how Naruto’s jaw grind against each other as he probably suppresses the urge to pull the car over and punch him in the face. His knuckles on the steering wheel turn treacherously white. What a funny thing if Naruto had to explain to his parents why he and his boyfriend had a black eye and a swollen lip— 

when he thinks about it, he probably doesn’t want to know what explanation Naruto would offer. 

Naruto breathes out and the tension seems to vanish from his body. “Idiot,” he says nonetheless and then adds: “I’m Naruto Uzumaki, twenty two years old, I live by myself, my major is Social Work—”

“Things I don’t know already, loser,” Sasuke interrupts him, crossing his arms.

“Ah—you’re right,” Naruto replies and scratches his chin as he turns into what seems to be a neighborhood. “My favorite food is ramen, especially Miso Chashu, there is a great restaurant here in Uzushiogakure, it’s called _Ichiraku Ramen_ and the owner makes the best ramen in the entire world—I absolutely have to take you there while we visit my parents. You’ll love it! Anyway—uhm—I’ve got a spiral tattoo on my stomach since I’m eighteen. I’ll can show it to you, if you want—”

“Proceed,” Sasuke grits through his teeth, not thinking about any dumb tattoos on Naruto’s stomach that he already has seen anyway. 

“Fine, fine,” Naruto laughs and brushes through his spiky blonde hair. “I love foxes and cats and dogs and—uh—actually it would be faster if I tell you what animals I don’t like: ticks and mosquitos, I very well know they are irreplacable for our environment but they creep me the fuck out.”

“An animal lover indeed,” Sasuke says with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Everytime Naruto helps Kiba in his animal shelter, he sends way too many pictures with way too many different animals—and all of them seem to love him as much as he unconditionally loves them. This is nothing new.

“Yeah, I suppose,” he laughs. “O—I love playing video games, by the way! My all time favorites are Skyrim, The Last of Us—especially part two—, and Life is Strange. But that’s something you already know, right? Uhm, what else? I like to cook in my freetime and I take care of plants. My friends say I’ve got a green thumb, which is why they bring their half dead plants for me to restore them—actually, Gaara’s the one that introduced me to the plant stuff when he brought me a flower bouquet and gave me tips to make them survive as long as possible. Seems I’m a natural!” 

“I’ve heard enough.” 

Sasuke already knows half of this by now—it’s not like Naruto’s the type of person who keeps something he loves to himself, and since Sasuke isn’t very talkative, it’s pretty clear who fills their time with talking when they hang out with each other. He still doesn’t like to hear about Gaara and his endless attempts to make Naruto fall in love with him though. It reminds him of all the high school girls that wouldn't take _No_ for an answer. Some of them even followed him everywhere he went and tried to take pictures—until one time he broke one of the girls’ phones and threatened to continue until they would finally leave him alone.

Eventually, a lot of them grew older and found other interests then stalking a gay man.

“I don’t think your parents will question me that much about you anyway,” he adds.

“Better safe than sorry. Mom can be pretty intimidating when she thinks something’s off. But—I guess you’re right. Now is your turn to tell me about yourself.” 

Sasuke exhales—and does what he is told. He doesn’t have any choice, has he? 

“Whatever. I like to read books in my freetime. My favorite foods are omusubi with okaka and tomatoes. I don’t like sweets. I’m ambidextrous.”

“What if my parents ask me what music you like?”

“They won’t.”

“But what _if.”_

“Either you stop asking me dumb shit like this or I’ll take the next train right back home and you can tell your parents your lovely boyfriend broke up with you. Understand?” 

“My, my, Sasuke,” Naruto chants and it looks like he bites down his laughter. “It’s a little too late for that.”

“What do you mean?” Sasuke asks but knows the answer as soon as the words leave his mouth; just at the same time Naruto drives his car onto the driveway of a house with wood paneling—one with a lot of different kinds of flowers and plants in the garden and a swing attached to a big, old oak. It ironically looks like a painting and absolutely like a house an artsy person would live in. 

“We’re here,” Naruto announces unnecessarily. “Do you want to talk about anything else before we leave the car?” 

Sasuke shakes his head without turning his gaze away from the house he will stay overnight the next three days—with Naruto Uzumaki attached to him, not just metaphorically. Why on earth did he agree to that in the first place? Right, Naruto had been pouting and— 

“Great. Then let’s go!” Naruto declares, way too ready and confident as he stops the engine and stomps out of the car. Sasuke sighs, pinches his nose and tries to calm himself. 

It doesn’t work the way he wants it to but it’s better than nothing, he thinks, and then he follows Naruto.

It’s already getting dark outside, the sun has colored the sky dark purple. There are a few lights on in the house indicating someone’s clearly home and waiting for both of them—leaving Sasuke with slightly sweaty hands. The breeze is pleasantly cooling his overheating skin.

“Are you nervous?” Naruto asks curiously as he hands him his bag and closes the trunk to turn himself fully to Sasuke. 

“No,” Sasuke lies, shoving one hand into his pants. “There is no reason to be.” 

“You have nothing to lose, huh?” Naruto laughs, brushing through his hair and destroying the order of his attempt to have an actual hairstyle this time. Sasuke likes the chaos on the idiot’s head as it usually is, so he says nothing—not that it really matters what he prefers or not. “Not like me. I might lose my dignity if we’re discovered.”

“Before you’re able to lose something, you need to possess it in the first place. Do you know that?,” Sasuke responds, chuckling lowly. “But I’m rather impressed you know the meaning behind such a difficult word, loser.” 

Naruto shoves at his shoulder. “Hey! Asshole! You can be happy I won’t beat you up on my parents’ property.”

“I am so glad, Naruto. Really. Thanks for being so considerate,” he says drily and rolls his eyes—instead of getting the usual response out of Naruto, his temper seems to shift as a big smile blossoms on his face. Clearly indicating something is not going right—

“Exactly!” Naruto agrees lightly and takes a step towards Sasuke, entering his beloved personal space. This way Sasuke could count all the lashes surrounding Naruto’s blue eyes or the few freckles placed on the bridge of his nose if he wanted to—there’s even a tiny one over the right side of his mouth. No way he didn’t see this one before. The summer must have brought it with its arrival. “I’m the most considerate boyfriend you’ll ever have, I promise.” 

Sasuke gulps, not really listening—and stares. 

“You’re not my boyfriend, Naruto,” he says with as much as conviction he finds in himself. 

“I _am_ right now,” Naruto points out low and quiet and his lips are stretching over his white teeth as his smile evolves into a mischievous grin. Sasuke’s stomach turns as he has to remind himself to blink—it shouldn’t be allowed to be this physically attracted to such a big moron. “Until the weekend is over and we leave my parents’ house, I’m in a relationship with Sasuke coldhearted Uchiha. The girls back home would kill me if they knew.”

“Good thing this is all a lie then,” Sasuke retorts and has to force himself to look Naruto in the eyes and not watch the movements of his mouth. The warmth Naruto emits is just so—distracting. 

Naruto’s mouth turns into a lopsided grin. “Yeah. But it also means we’re not yet used to touching each other, right?”

“I won’t run off just because you take my hand when I didn’t think you would, moron.”

“And what about a kiss?” 

“What about it?” Sasuke asks, eyes narrowed. He doesn’t like where this conversation is going in the slightest—not when Naruto is so damn close _and_ pretending to be his boyfriend. There are so many bad ideas Naruto could think would be worth giving them a shot. 

“You sure you won’t slap me and blow our cover when I try to kiss you in a moment you’re not prepared?”

“I’m not dumb, Naruto,” Sasuke huffs and licks his dry lips, he didn’t drink anything for the last hour—and curses himself as goosebumps dance over his body when Naruto followes the movement of his tongue with those shiny blue eyes. 

“I—I know that. It’s just—that—uhm, we—” Naruto stammers and grabs after Sasuke’s free hand, mingling them in an act that tries to be soothing but doesn’t quite reach that. 

“What do you want now?” Sasuke wants to know, feeling a little on edge; he doesn’t want to sound harsh but the nervousness is crawling through his bones and won’t let him settle down anymore. 

He is sure the people inside the house must have heard them arriving and turning off the engine—there is no way they won’t come looking after them any time soon.

“I think we should—you know, we—should kiss before going in.” 

“Why?” Sasuke asks and hopes he doesn’t sound nearly as panicked as he feels. He knows that he inevitably has to kiss Naruto in the following days, unfortunately so, but he didn’t think of it so soon. “ No. It’s idiotic.” 

“Because it has to be _convincing_ around my parents, remember? It would have been better if we practiced a bit back home but there wasn’t enough time, so all I want is one kiss.”

“One kiss,” Sasuke repeats very dumbly and switches from Naruto’s eyes immediately to his lips. His treacherous heart stutters in his chest as Naruto squeezes softly on their linked hands. 

“I don’t want either of us to be surprised and bite the other when we kiss, that’s not really couple-y, right?” Naruto says and his voice gets quiet with every word that rolls from his tongue as he comes possibly a bit closer. 

_When_ not _if_ —

and maybe he is even right about it. It’s not like Sasuke can prevent this kiss from happening anyway, and it won’t be the last—if it is happening now or maybe three hours later doesn’t really matter. 

It even fits the rule of _only necessarily kissing_ if it prevents them from blowing their cover. 

“Okay,” he agrees, short on breath. “One kiss.”

“One kiss, yes,” Naruto repeats whispering and then he feels Naruto’s warm breath on his lips and Naruto’s other hand on his hips while Sasuke desperately clings to their mingled hands and his eyes fall shut.

He is giving in— 

and Sasuke’s free fingers find their way into Naruto’s collar, pushing him a little closer as their lips meet—

“I knew it,” a female voice says suddenly, sounding way too amused. “They are already here, just like I said, Minato! But it seems there are some obstacles keeping them otherwise occupied.”

The female voice is clearly snickering. 

Sasuke jumps away from Naruto who doesn’t mind that his parents are already watching them, but then reminds himself that he is supposed to touch Naruto as his fake boyfriend, which, of course, also includes kissing.

That’s the only reason he doesn’t let go of Naruto’s hand. 

“What obstacles?” someone else says and steps beside the woman with long, red hair and a soft smile on her lips.

 _Kushina,_ Sasuke reminds himself. 

“Their lips, obviously.”

The man next to her is clearly Naruto’s father—blue eyes, blonde hair that’s too spiky to be called an ordinary hairstyle. 

“Hi, mom. Hi, dad,” Naruto smiles and drags Sasuke with him as he starts walking towards his parents—like nothing has happened at all. 

“This is Sasuke,” he announces and his smile gets even bigger. “My boyfriend.”

“So you’re the boy my son always tells us about,” Minato says with a serious expression on his face and looks Sasuke suspiciously up and down. He instantly feels a lot uneasier than he did just a few seconds—he didn’t think Naruto’s father would seem so sternly. It reminds him unpleasantly of Fugaku.

His posture gets as straight as possible. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Sasuke says politely and puts out his hand—Minato looks at that, then at their still intertwined hands, and back to the handshake Sasuke is offering. 

After a moment or two, Minato takes it. His handshake is strong and firm. 

“I’m Minato Namikaze, you can call me Mister Namikaze,” he says and looks him straight in the eyes. It feels like a challenge and Sasuke is not sure what to make out of it. 

Naruto’s mother is snickering again.

“Dad! Don’t be like that!” Naruto complains. “You’ll scare him!” 

“Of course, Mister Namikaze,” Sasuke agrees and Minato nods satisfied, ignoring his son completely. 

“Very good.” He is still shaking his hand in a slow and unyielding manner. “Would you be so kind and explain to me why my son’s boyfriend thinks it’s okay to be late when he’s supposed to meet us for the first time?”

“Dad! Stop it!” 

Sasuke swallows the spit in his mouth and doesn’t shy away from Minato’s gaze locked into his. His eyes are really similar to Naruto’s, perhaps with a little tinge of green though, Sasuke notices. 

The time Sasuke opens his mouth for a reply, the words just fall from his tongue:

“I’m sincerely sorry, Mister Namikaze, I just miscalculated the time while I worked on my master thesis and made all of you wait—” 

“Stop this nonsense, Sasuke,” Naruto’s father says sternly, his eyes just as unwavering as his voice. 

“I’m really—”

“I don’t want to hear anything of this.”

“I—” Sasuke sighs. He doesn’t like how much he is reminded of Fugaku by now. “Okay.” 

Without even blinking for a second Minato’s rigid gaze pierces right into the very core of Sasuke’s bones while their handshake grows more and more painful, making his hands unpleasantly sweaty.

It doesn’t help that he probably notices Sasuke’s nervousness.

At this point, Sasuke just really wishes he would have punched Naruto in the face the second he had asked him to be his boyfriend. He knows this has been a bad idea all along and for once he should have listened to his mind, not his heart, for fuck’s sake.

The seconds filled with awkward silence seem not to pass at all, stretching time almost endlessly. 

Reaching the moment Sasuke is about to give in to Minato’s harsh demeanor, turn on his heels and walk back home, the grip on his fingers loosens and a dumb grin forms on the man’s face—

and then Naruto’s father bursts simply into roaring laughter.

“What—?”

Before he can finish what he wants to say, Minato pulls him toward his chest and into a tender hug. Sasuke gasps for a second—and doesn’t know what to do with his hands or his hammering heart. What just happened?

“I was just joking, no need to apologize,” the man says, and it’s obvious that he is smiling now. It’s like a completely different person is standing before him. “You can call me Minato.”

“Okay,” Sasuke answers slowly, raises his hand and places it cautiously at Minato’s back, rubbing. 

“You’re such a damn goofball, Minato!”

What Sasuke doesn’t expect is that he is instantly dragged into another hug the next second.

“I’m Kushina Uzumaki, and you can call me Kushina,” she says softly into Sasuke’s hair as he is pressed against her warm body, his other hand still linked to Naruto—

who laughs and hugs his father, therefore their fingers lose their touch and Sasuke doesn’t like how cold his hand feels without Naruto’s warmth. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sasuke. Like my lovely husband already said, Naruto won’t shut up about you and it’s awesome to finally see you in person. We’re very happy to have you both.”

“The pleasure’s on my side,” Sasuke says and reservedly reciprocates Kushina’s hug. She smells like cinnamon and cherries. “I’m still very sorry we arrived so late—”

“No, no,” Kushina responds and smiles at Sasuke. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing we aren’t used to already.”

Then her smile wavers as she looks at Naruto who innocently waves at his mother, giving her a kiss on her cheek. 

“Hello, mom! Long time no see, huh?”

Kushina’s expression changes suddenly, her eyes narrowing. 

“Don’t you think you can get away with letting us wait so long,” she hisses and then hugs Naruto so tightly he has to choke for a second or two. “Declare yourself happy that you brought Sasuke with you or else you could have eaten your cold food alone in your room.”

“I’m so sorry, mom!” Naruto chokes out, head slightly red. “It won’t happen again, I swear. Kiba needed help and Sasuke—”

“I don’t care about your poor excuses, Naruto, and don’t drag Sasuke into this. We all know you’re always behind your time since you’ve been born.”

She releases Naruto who instantly gasps for air, and turns her gaze to Sasuke, smiling her sweetest smile. 

“Punch him for me if he makes you too much trouble. Would you be so kind, Sasuke?”

“I’ve already lost, haven’t I?” Naruto mumbles to himself, barely audible; now it’s Sasuke’s turn to chuckle. 

“Of course I won’t want to disappoint my mother-in-law, right?” he asks smilingly and happily ignores the way Naruto is glaring at him from behind his mother.

“Did you hear what he called me, Minato? He said mother-in-law!” Kushina shouts excitedly and Sasuke now knows where Naruto got all his explosiveness from—if Naruto is the sun, then Kushina is the universe that bore all the stars and planets. 

“You didn’t marry him already, did you, Naruto?” Minato asks deadpan and Sasuke doesn’t know if he should laugh or not at the fact that Naruto’s father thinks of it as a real possibility. 

“No!” Naruto declares, blushing a sweet crimson red. “Of course not, dad. I’m twenty two!” 

“Good,” Minato answers and turns to Sasuke, eyes warm and honestly. “You’re allowed to call me father-in-law, _son-in-law_.” 

“Shoot. You two already love him, don’t you? What did I just do?” Naruto asks desperately, tearing at his hair.

“Not as much as you do, don’t worry,” Kushina answers, blinking with one eye. “And now come in you two, before the food gets cold, I don’t want to have cooked for nothing.” 

“Alright,” Naruto agrees, grabbing for Sasuke’s hand again as he bumps their shoulders together—and Sasuke lets it happen because what else is he supposed to do? “I’m _so_ hungry!”

And as he follows the gentle pull of Naruto’s hands, he is dragged into a house that feels like home and fondness and smells like tomatoes.

“Minato and I made tomato soup since Naruto told us it’s your favorite vegetable. Is that right?”

Sasuke’s heart stutters. “Yeah—yeah, that’s right.”


End file.
